Bayou Boogaloo is given a look ahead to this year's festival after a standoff with members of the New Orleans City Council, but there is still no word on whether the 20-year-old festival should move to 2026.
City Council member Joe Giarso announced Friday that it will allow the annual mid-urban Bayou Boogaloo to proceed in 2025, days after threatening to hold off special event permits due to complaints from residents living in the area.
The decision was made after a meeting with neighbors and Bayou Boogaloo administrators on Thursday night to address traffic, parking and other concerns.
“Bayou Boogaloo has adjusted its footprint and composition this year. The city's department has become thoughtful to address safety concerns and neighbourhood needs,” Giarrusso wrote Friday.
Giarrusso's statement did not address the future of the festival beyond this year. Previously, council members had insisted that the festival would move elsewhere in 2026 from its regular site at the southern tip of Bayou Cent John, unless festival administrators could provide evidence that local residents would like to maintain it.
Mid City Bayou Boogaloo is scheduled to kick off on May 16th with a lineup of local musicians, food vendors and crafts.
Bayou Boogaloo grows and costs
Bayou Boogaloo was founded in 2005 and was tasked with improving the condition of urban waterways at the time. In 2010, the fest planted Oaks in what was in a barren bank on the southern tip of the Bayou.
Initially the festival was small and free, but over the years it swelled, presented a greater act, charged admission, constructed fencing, blocked the bayou to ensure that canoes, kayakers and rafters were cruising to the site.
Throughout its history, the festival has been criticized by some neighbors. Over 15,000 annual festival attendees will create a surge in traffic in picturesque residential areas around Bayou Cent John. Some roads are blocked, parking is a problem, and amplified music drifts from the stage.
Susie Cobb, president of the City Park/Parkview Neighborhood Association, which represents the Lakeside of the Bayou, said the festival was simply “overwhelming” for its neighbors, many of which are elderly.
Despite opposition from some residents, support for the threatened event appears to be growing recently.
Uncertainty remains
Jared Zeller, producer of Bayou Boogaloo, said “at this point” he doesn't know if the festival will remain or move to where it is.
“We'll have more neighbour input and more discussion this summer,” he wrote in a text Friday.
Meanwhile, he said the uncertainty regarding the 2025 festival permit “expanding revenue from ticket sales and sponsorship.”
The 2026 festival disposition “relies on public support, both financially and politically,” Zeller said.
